News - February 2022 RSS Feed

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord: Like many of you, I have been watching in shock, disbelief, heartbreak, disappointment, and, yes, anger, at the numerous news reports of extreme violence (armed carjackings, attempted kidnappings, I-10 shootings) that plagues our beloved city. Never in my most disturbing nightmares would I have imagined individuals being carjacked, accosted, and critically injured while pumping gasoline at Costco. Never would I have ever imagined men, women, and children being shot weekly on the interstate system. Never would I have imagined a mom being shot bringing her children to soccer practice. The recent surge in violence is heart wrenching! [...]

Many people associate this month with great happiness and joy due to the Feast of St. Valentine on February 14. It’s appropriate to greet a day devoted to love with this kind of exuberance because it is such a profound gift of God to all of humanity. Our knowledge of the facts of St. Valentine’s life has largely been lost to history, but most people agree that this third century Roman saint was martyred and buried along the Flaminian Way just north of Rome. Today, he is the patron of love, young people, and happy marriages. [...]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord: In March of 2020, we entered into a new world of livestreaming Masses at Divine Mercy Parish due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After much prayer and appropriate consultation, I have decided to discontinue this effort on March 1, 2022, based on two factors. First, more parishioners are returning to Church to attend Mass in-person so our online viewership is very minimal, even in the current COVID-19 climate. Secondly and more urgently, we need to return to communal worship and the reception of the sacraments. The components of the Mass are communal and personal. They are rooted in Jewish worship. The Liturgy of the Word fulfills and replaces worship in the synagogues, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist fulfills and replaces the Temple sacrifices with the One Sacrifice of Jesus. The reception of Jesus during Communion—His body, blood, soul, and divinity—prepares us to return to the world and to love others as Jesus loves us and this cannot be replaced by viewing the Liturgy virtually.

In February, the Catholic Church in the United States partners with other organizations to celebrate National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day to give us "an opportunity to focus on building a culture of life and love that begins with supporting and promoting marriage and the family."